Digital wealth needs safer paths to liquidity, XPlace CEO says

XPlace CEO Artem Ponomarev has called for safer crypto-backed borrowing tools as DeFi lending protocols hold more than $42 billion in total value locked. Summary DeFi lending protocols currently hold about $42.06 billion in total value locked. Ponomarev said investors should be able to access liquidity without selling long-term digital-asset positions. Tokenized stocks have reached $2.34 billion in distributed value, according to RWA.xyz. SEC guidance says tokenized securities remain subject to federal securities laws. Artem Ponomarev, founder and CEO of digital-wealth platform XPlace, told crypto.news that digital-asset services must move beyond helping people acquire wealth and give them responsible ways to use it. “I think we’re moving into a stage where the question is no longer simply whether people will own digital assets, but what they can actually do with the wealth they’ve built,” Ponomarev said. His comments focus on collateralized borrowing, which allows an investor to pledge Bitcoin, another crypto asset, or a tokenized security in exchange for liquidity. Unlike a direct sale, the arrangement lets the borrower keep exposure to the pledged asset unless its value falls fa...